SEMI-CENTENNIAL  DISCOURSE. 


BY  REV,  THOMAS  LAURIE,  D,  D, 


UNIVERSITY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 
AT  AMHERST 


UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

Special  Collections  &  Rare  Books 


SEMI  CENTENNIAL  DISCOURSE. 


A    DISCOURSE 


DELIVERED    AT 


West  Roxbury  (Boston),  Mass., 

ON    THE 

FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY 

OF   THE 

South  Evangelical  Church, 

June  7,  1885, 
By   rev.   THOMAS    LAURIE,    D.  D. 


BOSTON: 

Beacon  Press:    Thomas  Todd,  Printer, 

Congregational  House. 

1885. 


PASTORS. 


Installed.  1J)ismi.ssed 

Rev.  Christopher   Marsh May  17,  1837  Dec.  11,  1S50 

Rev.  Thomas   Laurie,  D.  D May    7,  1851  Jan.   30,  1S68 

Rev.   William   S.  Hubbell,  D.  D.   .     .    Jan.   30,  186S  Jan.   25,  1872 

Rev.   Edv^^ard  Stro.\g,  D.  D May     2,  1872  July   13,   1882 

Rev.  Clarence  A.  Beckwith  ....     Nov.    2,  1882 


DISCOURSE. 


And  he  is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  church.  —  Col.  i:  i8. 


What  is  a  church  ?  A  Congregationalist  might  reply,  "A 
company  of  believers  in  covenant  with  God,  and  with  each  other, 
to  serve  God,  and  observe  his  ordinances,"  and  in  one  sense  he 
answers  well. 

We  have  a  better  answer,  however,  in  the  words  before  us. 
"The  church  is  the  body  of  Christ"  —  a  short  definition,  but 
full  of  the  heaven  whence  it  came,  for  it  tells  us  that  as  Christ 
had  a  body  when  he  walked  a  man  among  men,  so  has  he  today. 
As  then,  he  looked  through  the  eyes  of  that  body,  heard  through 
its  ears,  spoke  through  its  organs  of  speech,  and  wrought 
through  its  hands,  so  now  he  acts  through  his  church,  not 
only  transforming  its  members  into  his  own  image,  but  through 
them  making  others  also  partakers  of  the  same  grace.  We  can- 
not hold  too  firmly  that  it  is  not  the  church  which  blesses  man, 
but  Christ  working  through  the  church,  as  once  he  acted  through 
his  body  that  hungered  and  was  weary,  suffered,  and  was  nailed 
to  the  cross.  What  mighty  work  could  that  body  have  wrought 
without  his  indwelling  spirit  ?  Precisely  so  does  Christ  work  in 
his  church  today.  Take  Christ  out  of  our  churches,  and  what 
would  remain  .'  Nothing  but  branches  cut  off  from  the  vine,  and 
so  fit  only  for  the  fire.  Even  if  only  once  he  should  be  absent 
from  its  assemblies,  that  meeting,  whether  on  the  Sabbath  or 
through  the  week,  would  show  no  sign  of  spiritual  life,  nor  could 
it  until  he  came  and  made  it  live. 

This  Bible  view  of  the  church  glorifies  it.  View  it  as  a 
mere  human  organization  of  good  men,  and  we  tremble  as  we 
think  of    their  possibilities  of  evil  —  of  their  liability  even  to 


apostacy.  But  when  we  view  it  as  liis  body,  we  know  that  he 
will  never  leave  it  nor  forsake  it,  for  he  dieth  no  more,  but  is 
the  same  yesterday,  today,  and  forever.  Look  on  it  as  a  mere 
human  body  of  men,  and  how  soon  will  they  scatter,  this  one  to 
another  church,  and  that  one  to  the  grave.  Like  the  river  flow- 
ing by,  never  composed  of  the  same  drops  for  two  moments, 
so  some  churches  undergo  a  perpetual  change,  but  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  body  of  Christ  preserves  its  identity  from  age  to  age. 

When  your  second  pastor  came  here  in  185 1  he  found  two 
deacons.  The  senior  deacon  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  was 
no  guile.  The  other  totally  dififerent,  and  yet  simple  hearted  as 
a  child.  During  that  pastorate  two  other  deacons  were  chosen. 
One  whose  peculiar  fitness  had  previously  caused  him  to  be 
selected  for  that  office,  and  another  whose  rare  qualifications 
made  him  your  unanimous  choice.  When  tlie  pastor  left  in 
1867  he  left  them  all  in  active  service,  but  hardly  had  he  gone 
before  the  senior  deacon  was  called  home.  In  less  than  two 
years.  Deacon  Alvin  Smith  followed,  and  in  a  little  more  than 
four  years,  not  one  of  the  four  remained.  As  often  as  the 
absent  pastor  thought  of  you,  those  four  vacant  places  first  rose 
up  before  him,  and  were  the  last  thing  to  leave  his  thoughts. 

Twice  over  has  this  church  been  sorely  tried  in  the  loss  of 
its  officers.  August  4,  187 1,  Deacon  Lucius  A.  Tolman  died, 
and  on  September  25,  Deacon  Michael  Whittemore  followed 
him  to  heaven.  Deacon  John  Walker  died  February  20,  1885, 
and  only  three  days  later.  Deacon  George  Smith  entered  into 
rest —  a  blessed  rest  to  a  faithful  servant. 

The  mention  of  deacons  suggests  another  who  had  filled 
that  office  in  Roxbury,  but  whose  modesty  refused  it  here,  yet 
Deacon  Andrew  S.  March  —  for  the  title  followed  him — was 
not  therefore  idle  or  unfruitful,  and  we  missed  him  sadly  when 
December  25,  1854,  we  laid  in  the  grave  the  body  still  united  to 
Christ,  to  rest  there  until  the  resurrection. 

Amid  such  losses  what  has  kept  this  church  alive  .''  Only 
He  who  having  raised  up  these,  and  wrought  through  them,  still 
fills  the  vacant  places  and  carries  on  his  work.  Even  while  our 
bodies  continue  to  be  the  home  of  our  spirits,  their  material  so 
changes,  that  in  a  few  years,  not  a  particle  remains  the  same. 
So  is  it  also  with  this  body  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  Only  while  in 
our  bodies   efi:ete  matter  disappears,  we  scarce   know  how  or 


5 

when,  the  living  stones  in  this  building  —  to  use  another  Bible 
figure  —  go  to  be  with  Christ  and  to  behold  his  glory. 

And  so  both  here  and  there,  branches  in  the  true  vine  bear 
fruit  to  God.  Only  those  which  have  "climbed  over  the  wall  " 
that  separates  earth  from  heaven,  bear  better  fruit ;  how  much 
better  we  shall  know  when  we  come  to  be  among  them. 

If  the  church  is  the  body  of  him  who  liveth  through  all  the 
ages,  let  us  look  back  at  the  beginning  of  this  life  in  Roxbury. 
From  the  first  Christ  had  made  the  trees  and  plants,  that  everv 
year  leaved  out  afresh  on  these  hills  and  valleys.  He  adorned 
them  with  their  rich  variety  of  beauty.  So  the  animals  that  fed 
on  the  plants,  or  lay  down  under  the  trees,  the  birds  that  made 
the  groves  vocal  with  their  songs,  all  lived  from  him,  and  were  fed 
daily  from  his  hand,  but  they  were  not  created  in  his  image,  and 
man  had  lost  it,  till  it  was  restored  again  in  Christ,  when  he 
became  united  to  the  body  of  his  Redeemer. 

The  first  church  in  Roxbury  was  formed  in  1632,  with  seven- 
teen members,  only  twelve  years  after  the  landing  at  Plymouth, 
with  John  Eliot  for  its  first  teacher,  and  Thomas  Weld  for  pas- 
tor. The  official  life  of  Eliot  and  Nehemiah  Walter,  his  succes- 
sor, extended  continuously  over  one  hundred  and  twenty  years. 
Surely  the  churches  in  Roxbury  ought  to  be  interested  in  mis- 
sions today,  when  the  first  minister  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago,  labored  so  earnestly  for  the  salvation  of  the  red  man  who 
roamed  over  these  hills,  and  passed  up  and  down  yon  river  in 
his  canoe.  The  Indian  Bible,  that  precious  memorial  of  Eliot, 
suggests  memories  of  multitudes  who,  before  their  race  disap- 
peared from  earth,  had  learned  from  it  the  way  to  heaven.' 

The  second  church  was  formed  eighty  years  later,  Novem- 
ber, 17 12,  in  what  is  now  Roslindale.     Their   house   of  worship 


'  The  first  Bible  printed  in  America  was  this  Massachusetts  or  Mohican 
Bible,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  1663,  the  New  Testament  having  appeared 
two  'years  previously.  The  title  is,  "  Mamussee  Wuneetupanatamwe  up 
Biblum  God.  Naneeswe  Nukkone  Testament  kah  wonk  Wusku  Testament. 
Ne  quoshkinnumuk  nashpe  Wuttineumoh  Christ  noh  oscowesit  John  Eliot." 
/.  e.  The  whole  holy  his  Bible  God,  both  Old  Testament  and  also  New 
Testament.  This  turned  by  the  servant  of  Christ,  who  is  called  John  Eliot. 
The  volume  is  now  extremely  rare,  and  commands  a  great  price,  as  high  as 
$t,30o.oo  have  been  paid  for  a  copy.  J.  Eliot  was  born  at  Nasing  in 
Essex,  Eng.,  1604,  and  died  in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  May  20,  1690. 


was  on  Walter  Street,  so  named  in  honor  of  the  second  minister 
of  tiie  first  church.  Only  a  deserted  graveyard  now  marks  the 
site,  though  thirty-three  years  ago  the  preacher  attended  the 
funeral  of  Elizabeth  Richards,  aet.  ninety-six,  who  attended 
church  there  in  early  life. 

The  third  church  was  formed  in  Jamaica  Plain,  December, 
1770,  and  three  years  later  the  second  church  erected  the  meet- 
ing house  near  Central  Station,  though  the  spire  was  not  added 
till  1822. 

All  these  churches  were  more  orthodox  than  many  churches 
bearing  that  name  today,  but  great  spiritual  declension  preceded 
the  Revolution,  and  so  increased  after  it,  that  in  the  early  part 
of  this  century  it  is  to  be  feared  that  salvation  through  the 
atoning  death  of  the  Son  of  God  was  nowhere  preached  in  Rox- 
bury.  The  Baptist  church  in  Dudley  Street  first  lifted  up  the 
fallen  standard  in  182  i.  The  Eliot  (Congregational)  Church,  in 
Kenilworth  Street,  followed  September  18,  1834,  and  this  church 
joined  their  ranks  June  11,  1835,  witnessing  that  Christ  cruci- 
fied is  to  them  that  are  called  the  power  of  God  and  the  wis- 
dom of  God  for  salvation. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  today  to  appreciate  the  condition  of 
things  here  at  that  time.  Some  might  be  more  impressed  with 
their  secular  aspect.  No  railroad  went  out  of  Boston  till  after 
the  close  of  the  first  third  of  the  present  century  (1833).' 
Society  here  was  somewhat  primitive  compared  with  what  one 
would  expect  so  near  to  the  capital.  The  wave  of  progress 
did  not  gather  momentum  till  it  had  passed  West  Roxbury,  and 
reached  to  regions  beyond. 

The  religious  aspect,  however,  is  what  most  concerns  us. 
Liberality  was  preferred  to  godliness.  The  church  of  Dedham 
had  been  driven  out  of  its  house  of  worship,  and  its  communion 
furniture  taken   from   it  by  due  process   of  law.     Here  church 


'A  charter  to  build  a  railroad  to  Lowell  was  granted  in  1830.  In 
1S31  the  Boston  &  Providence,  also  the  Boston  &  Worcester  Railroad 
corporations  were  organized,  and  the  construction  of  the  three  roads  was 
begun  in  1832.  The  Boston  &  Worcester  Railroad  was  opened  for  travel 
part  way,  Aprrl,  1834,  and  to  Worcester  July  4,  1835.  The  Boston  &  Prov- 
idence Railroad  was  opened  to  Readville,  June  4,  1834,  and  to  Providence 
August,  1835.  The  West  Roxbury  Branch  Railroad  was  opened  for  travel 
early  in  1849. 


and  sanctuary  together  went  out  from  the  old  paths.  From 
1837  to  1843  Theodore  Parker  was  its  pastor,  though  his  ration- 
alism then  was  not  so  radical  as  after  his  removal  to  Boston. 
The  Encyclopadia Britajinica  (XVlll,  p.  301,  col.  i ),  says  —  and 
its  statements  will  not  be  suspected  of  any  bias  toward  ortho- 
do.xy  —  "He  denied  all  special  authority  to  the  Bible,  to  Christ, 
and  to  Christianity.  The  Boston  Unitarian  clergy  denounced 
the  preacher  "  (for  a  sermon  preached  in  1841  on  "the  transient 
and  permanent  in  Christianity")  "and  declared  that  the  young- 
man  must  be  silenced.  No  Unitarian  publisher  could  be  found 
for  his  sermon,  and  nearly  all  the  pulpits  of  the  city  were  closed 
against  him.  To  exchange  with  him  was  fatal  to  a  minister's 
reputation  for  (even)  Unitarian  Orthodoxy."  While  such  was 
the  character  of  the  pulpit  utterances  of  the  church  in  this  com- 
munity, you  may  judge  what  was  the  religious  sentiment  of  the 
people,  crowds  came  in  carriages  from  all  the  region  round  to 
hear  the  champion  of  rationalism,  and  any  suspicion  of  a  leaning 
to  spiritual  religion  subjected  a  man  to  all  sorts  of  annoyance, 
even  the  children  of  such,  in  the  streets  on  their  way  to  and 
from  school,  received  such  treatment  that  often  they  reached 
home  in  tears.  To  intensify  this  state  of  things,  the  famous 
"  Brook  Farm "  was  then  in  the  heyday  of  its  popularity,  in 
another  part  of  the  parish,  and  joined  with  Mr.  Parker  in  pour- 
ing contempt  on  the  gospel.' 

It  was  well  for  this  church  that  at  that  time  it  had  a  pastor. 


'This  was  a  nondescript  experiment  intended  to  eliminate  the  good 
of  communism,  and  leave  behind  its  evil.  The  leading  spirit  was  the 
Rev.  George  Ripley,  at  one  lime  a  Unitarian  minister  in  Purchase  Street, 
Boston,  and  afterwards  one  of  the  editors  of  the  American  Encyclopedia,  G. 
W.  Curtis,  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  and  other  notabilities,  both  men  and 
women,  were  among  its  members.  Miss  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody  wrote  a  very 
appreciative  account  of  it  in  The  Dial,  but  she  described  her  own  hopes 
and  aspirations  rather  than  the  thing  as  it  was.  Some  articles  in  T/w  Old 
atid  New  and  one  in  The  Atlantic  Monthly  do  not  give  a  very  high  idea  of 
the  moral  earnestness  of  the  body,  which  soon  fell  to  pieces  by  its  own  weight. 
Its  radical  mistake  was  the  idea  that  society  needed  organic  reconstruction, 
instead  of  a  new  life  from  God,  that  outward  readjustments  of  form  could 
remove  all  its  evils.  Whereas  the  one  thing  essential  to  its  healing  is  that 
it  should  be  permeated  with  the  life  of  Christ.  "Except  a  man  be  born 
anew  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God,"  is  as  true  of  our  social  relations, 
as  of  our  individual  life. 


8 


who  did  not  challenge  debate,  proudly  confident  that  the  force 
of  his  logic,  and  the  power  of  his  eloquence,  would  ensure  him 
the  victory,  but  one  who  was  content  quietly  to  preach  the  truth 
through  which  God  sanctifies  his  people.  And  as  he  is  the  only 
one  of  the  five  pastors  of  this  church  who  has  passed  from 
among  us,  it  will  be  proper  to  speak  of  him  more  at  length. 

Rev.  Christopher  Marsh,  son  of  Edward  and  Eunice  Marsh, 
was  born  in  Campton,  N.  H.,  August  4,  1794.  The  house  stood 
on  a  retired  and  very  hilly  road  to  the  east  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church.  Converted  at  the  age  of  twenty- one,  he  at 
once  began  preparation  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  as  did 
some  others  not  long  after  from  the  same  town.  He  graduated  at 
Dartmouth  College,  1820,  studied  theology  for  three  years  under 
private  instruction,  and  was  ordained  June  4,  1823,  pastor  in 
Sanford,  Me.  After  laboring  six  or  seven  years  there,  he  was 
installed  at  Biddeford  in  the  same  State,  where  his  daughter 
thinks  he  had  the  care  of  two  pulpits,  one  in  the  upper  and  the 
other  in  the  lower  part  of  the  town.  Leaving  there  he  became 
Secretary  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  for  Massachu- 
setts, and  took  up  his  residence  in  Cambridge,  and  here  in  1833 
he  buried  his  wife,  Nancy  W.  Pearson,  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Hannah  Pearson,  who  was  born  in  Haverhill,  N.  H.,  October 
14,  1796.' 


'  They  were  married  July  9,  1823,  and  she  was  the  mother  of  all  his 
children,  as  follows:  Elizabeth  P.,  married  Edward  L.  Goddard  of  Clare- 
mont,  N.  H.,  June  13,  1S55,  who  died  March  30,  1880,  aged  seventy.  She 
now  resides  in  Plainfield,  N.  J.,  with  her  son.  Phoebe  F.,  married  Prof. 
Edwin  Pierce,  December  23,  1873,  ^"^  resides  in  West  Newton.  Maria  M. 
A.,  married  John  Haven  of  Boston,  who  died  in  West  Newton,  February  18, 
1882.  Christopher,  married  Caroline  Disney  of  Cincinnati,  O.,  where  he 
now  resides.  In  1834,  Mr.  Marsh  married  Miss  Lucy  Gilpatrick,  born  in 
Biddeford,  Me.,  July  3,  1792,  whose  labors  for  this  church  can  never  be  for- 
gotten by  those  who  witnessed  them,  nor  can  its  history  be  complete  without 
some  account  of  one  who  did  so  much  for  its  prosperity.  Converted  at 
twenty  years  of  age,  she  at  once  commenced  a  life  of  such  active  service  to 
Christ,  that  the  opposition  called  forth  from  her  family  constrained  her  to 
leave  her  home,  though  she  went  back  and  cared  tenderly  for  her  parents 
during  their  last  illness.  Removing  to  Boston,  besides  regular  attendance 
on  her  church  meetings,  she  was  teacher  in  a  school  for  colored  children, 
and  for  several  years  was  matron  of  the  woman's  refuge.  Mr.  Marsh  called 
her  from  that  position  to  be  his  helpmeet  in  West  Roxbury,  and  it  is  not 
hazarding  much  to  say,  that  he  could  hardly  have  found  one  better  adapted 


He  began  preaching  here  in  a  hall,  in  the  second  storj'  of 
the  building  across  the  street,  in  January,  1834,  though  he  was 
not  installed  till  May  17,  1837. 

He  was  now  in  the  prime  of  life,  of  robust  health,  and  of 
faith  not  less  firm  and  vigorous,  and  here  he  labored  till  his 
dismission,  December  11,  1850.  Three  years  later,  attracted 
by  the  prospect  of  helping  another  church  in  its  early  struggles, 
he  removed  to  Jamaica  Plain. 

In  the  spring  of  1858,  his  former  people  at  Sanford  sent  for 
him,  and  he  removed  there,  and  entered  into  the  work  with  his 
wonted  earnestness,  forgetting  that  he  was  now  such  an  one  as 
Paul  the  aged.  He  found  babes  whom  he  had  baptized  now 
office  bearers  in  the  church,  a  revival  followed  that  more  than 
doubled  the  membership,  but  the  work  was  more  than  he  could 
bear,  and  June  30,  1859,  he  fell  on  sleep. 

He  was  a  man  of  great  practical  wisdom,  with  a  warm 
heart,  and  eminently  a  man  of  prayer.  Never  did  a  Sabbath 
find  him  in  bed  after  five  o'clock.  This  was  his  habit  even 
when  not  in  the  ministry.  He  rose  quietly,  disturbing  no  one,  and 
while  others  slept  he  wrestled  at  the  mercy  seat.  His  family 
never  heard  him  complain  of  anybody  or  anything,  and  hun- 
dreds traced  their  conversion  to  his  instrumentality. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  way  in  which  the  Master  led  to 
the  formation  of  this  church.  A  little  girl,  who  lived  near  what 
is  now  the  Spring  Street  Station,  Mary  Whiting  by  name,  used 


to  the  work,  or  more  zealous  in  it.  She  did  a)l  her  own  work  at  home,  and 
many  a  time  after  labors  in  the  house,  which  most  women  would  have  em- 
ployed others  to  do  for  them,  she  has  gone  out  for  parish  work,  as  though 
she  had  nothing  else  to  do,  nor  was  either  distance,  or  wintry  storm,  allowed 
to  hinder  it.  The  parish  in  her  day  was  not  small,  territorially  at  least,  and 
she  has  often  walked  on  foot  through  snow  on  errands  of  mercy,  or  minister- 
ing help  and  comfort  when  it  was  needed. 

It  was  just  like  her,  after  her  husband  died,  to  devote  herself  to  city 
mission  work  in  Roxbury.  Her  friends  entreated  her  to  spare  herself,  but 
her  earnest  expectation  and  hope  was  that  Christ  would  be  glorified  in  her, 
whether  by  life  or  by  death,  and  so  it  was.  June  10,  she  sent  in  her  resigna- 
tion to  the  City  Missionary  Society,  and  before  it  was  acted  on,  the  Master 
took  her  to  himself,  June  20,  1868.  Of  her,  also,  that  word  of  the  Master 
was  true,  "  She  hath  done  what  she  could,"  for  from  the  first  to  the  last  of 
her  Christian  course,  she  did  with  her  might  whatsoever  her  hands  found  to 
do. 


lO 


to  visit  a  friend  in  the  family  of  Rev.  Dr.  Burgess  in  Dedham. 
She  went  with  her  to  church,  and  that  led  her  to  seek  to  take 
her  father's  family  there  also.  Instead  of  going  with  her,  her 
father  threatened  to  punish  her  if  she  went  herself,  and  she  was 
greatly  troubled.  After  he  died,  God  sent  one  to  take  care  of 
the  farm  who  took  all  the  family  to  the  church  of  Dr.  Burgess, 
and  four  of  them  were  received  into  it  at  the  same  communion. 
Years  passed,  and  Mary's  mother  opened  her  house  for  preach- 
ing, August  26,  1832.  Students  from  the  seminary  at  Newton 
conducted  the  services,  till  a  death  in  the  family  interrupted 
them,  and  they  were  not  resumed,  probably  because  the  house 
was  not  large  enough  for  the  increasing  numbers.  In  March, 
1833,  the  hall  already  referred  to  was  rented  for  $12  per  annum, 
and  fitted  up  at  a  cost  of  $25  more,  of  course  in  a  very  primi- 
tive way.  A  plain  standing  desk  was  the  pulpit,  that  long  stood 
in  the  basement  of  this  building,  and  the  pews  were  benches 
without  backs.  Twenty-eight  persons  subscribed  $126.50  for 
the  year,  and  Dr.  Burgess  preached  for  the  first  time,  April  14, 
to  about  fifty  hearers.  Ten  of  the  subscribers  were  members 
of  his  church,  and  he  wisely  charged  $68.04  for  his  services 
during  the  year,  that  they  might  feel  the  work  was  their  own  and 
not  his.  So  a  hall  that  had  been  noted  for  dancing,  became  a 
place  of  prayer.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  and  John  Codman  were 
among  the  preachers  that  year.  Next  year  fifty  persons  sub- 
scribed $212.75,  ^^  increase  of  twenty-two  names  and  $98. 

An  ecclesiastical  society  was  formed  April  11,  1834,  and 
the  church  was  organized  with  twenty-five  members,  June  11, 
1835.  Eighteen  of  these  brought  letters  from  other  churches, 
and  seven  entered  for  the  first  time  into  covenant  with  God.  No 
minister  that  attended  the  council  is  living  today.  Dr.  G.  W. 
Blagden,  then  of  Salem  Street,  Boston,  preached  the  sermon,  and 
Dr.  Burgess  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship. 

And  here  it  is  fitting  to  mention  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Bur- 
gess to  this  church.  In  1834  he  gave  $300,  intending  to  dimin- 
ish the  gift  annually  by  $50,  till  the  church  could  go  alone,  but 
in  1840  he  began  again  at  $150,  diminishing  as  before,  and  at 
various  times  added  more,  till  the  whole  amounted  to  over 
$1,500.  It  is  not  given  to  every  new  church  to  have  so  good  a 
neighbor.  He  desired  that  nothing  should  be  asked  from  the 
Home  Missionary  Society,  or  from  any  one,  except  for  the  erec- 


II 


tion  of  this  house  of  worship,  but  after  1841,  in  the  protracted 
struggles  of  the  church,  $650  were  received  from  the  Massachu- 
setts Home  Missionary  Society. 

This  building  does  not  equal,  either  in  cost  or  in  beauty, 
many  belonging  to  neighboring  churches,  but  it  was  no  small 
undertaking  to  erect  it  at  that  time.  Mr.  Edward  Richards,  who 
gave  $40  per  annum  for  church  expenses,  besides  the  pastor's 
house  rent,  gave  the  land.  Friends  in  Boston  gave  $4,000, 
neighboring  churches  $800  more,  and  $845  was  raised  here  at 
home.  The  ladies  gave  the  pulpit.  The  first  communion  ser- 
vice was  the  gift  of  Judge  Hubbard,  of  Boston,  a  man  who  had 
a  share  in  every  good  work.  But  no  one  did  more  toward  the 
erection  of  this  house  of  worship  than  Mr.  Marsh.  Though  his 
salary  was  only  some  $550,  $200  of  the  $845  subscribed  here 
came  from  his  purse,  and  afterwards  when  $977  of  a  debt  was 
raised  here,  $300  of  that  also  was  from  him,  and  most  of  the 
labor  of  getting  subscriptions  devolved  on  him.  He  often  trav- 
eled on  foot  on  this  errand  till  he  came  back  at  night  quite  ex- 
hausted.' 

The  only  thing  memorable  in  the  erection  of  the  chapel  in 
1859,  was  the  heartiness  with  which  the  church  took  hold  of  the 
work,  though  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  size  of  the  lot  did  not 
allow  it  to  be  larger. 

It  was  the  love  of  this  church  for  one  of  its  pastors,  who 
had  been  compelled  to  go  to  Dedham  to  find  a  home,  that  led 
to  the  building  of  the  parsonage  in  1S67,  though  he  for  whom  it 
was  intended  has  only  been  once,  perhaps  twice,  within  the 
door. 


*  The  following  letter  is  in  the  archives  of  the  parish.     It  is  without 
date,  but  was  written  probably  in  1838.     It  was  read  by  Mr.  Beckwith  at 
the  meeting  in  the  evening,  June  7,  1885  : 
To  the  Spring  Striiet  Parish,  now  in  Session : 

Gentlemen, — As  you  may  find  some  difficulty  in  meeting  all  your 
parish  expenses  for  the  last  year,  you  will  please  accept  of  the  one  hundred 
dollars  due  me  from  the  parish  up  to  April  i,  1838.  I  cast  myself  upon  the 
Lord  for  the  future.  Wishing  you  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  I  subscribe  my- 
self, Your  servant  and  pastor, 

Christopher  Marsh. 

P.  S.  The  expenses  of  my  family,  and  what  I  have  given  to  the 
parish  and  to  other  objects  the  last  year,  not  including  the  above,  are  $710.81. 

C.  M. 


12 


Besides  the  25  original  members,  Mr.  Marsh  received  81 
into  the  church,  106  in  all,  and  it  gives  us  some  idea  of  the  dis- 
couragements of  his  day,  and  the  smallness  of  the  population 
then,  that  out  of  the  106  his  successor  found  only  57. 

Of  that  successor  it  need  only  be  said  that  he  was  installed 
May  7,  1 85 1.  Severe  sickness  laid  him  aside  at  the  close  of 
1866,  and  as  his  physicians  decided  that  he  could  not  preach 
for  a  year  to  come,  he  resigned  January  16,  1867,  and  was  dis- 
missed January  30,  1868,  by  the  same  council  that  installed  his 
successor.'  During  these  years  75  were  received  by  letter,  and 
50  by  profession,  125  in  all ;  still  only  86  members  remained  at 
the  close  of  1866,  and  at  the  end  of  1867,  his  successor  found 
only  78.  There  are  only  11  persons  in  the  church  today  who 
were  in  it  when  the  second  pastor  came,  and  of  them  only  one 
(Miss  Mary  Ann  Gould)  belongs  to  the  original  members. 

It  may  show  the  connection  of  church  prosperity  with  secu- 
lar things,  to  add  that  the  membership  rose  from  57  in  1851,  to 
97  in  1856,  and  at  one  time  in  i860  it  was  loi,  though  reduced 
to  90  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  yet  January  i,  1867,  it  was  only 
86,  increasing  40  in  five  years,  and  then  diminishing  11  in  11 
years.  This  check  to  church  growth  was  caused  by  the  check 
given  to  the  population  of  West  Roxbury,  by  the  rebuilding  of 
the  railroad  bridge  below  Roslindale,  which  compelled  us  for 
months  to  go  to  Boston  via  Dedham  and  Readville,  followed  by 
a  rise  in  the  price  of  season  tickets  to  Boston  — facts  which  show 
that  spiritual  prosperity  is  not  measured  by  the  number  on  the 


'  Thomas  Laurie  was  born  at  Craigleith,  a  suburb  of  Edinburgh, 
Scotland,  May  19,  1821.  Sailed  from  Greenock,  June  5,  arriving  at  New 
York,  August  2,  1830;  graduated  at  Illinois  College,  1838,  and  Andover 
Theological  Seminary,  1841.  Ordained  as  missionary  in  Jacksonville,  111., 
March  6,  1842.  Married  to  Martha  F.  Osgood,  July  21,  1842.  Sailed  for 
Smyrna,  July  29,  arriving  September  7,  and  at  Mosul,  November  11,  1842. 
Mrs.  Laurie  died  December  16,  1843.  Left  Mosul  for  Beirut,  October  21, 
and  reached  Beirut,  December  11,  1844.  Left  Beirut  for  Smyrna,  May  9, 
1846.  July  II,  sailed  for  Boston,  arriving  September  20.  Installed  at  South 
Hadley,  June  7,  184S;  resigned  January  12,  1851.  Installed  over  Pilgrim 
Church,  Providence,  R.  I.,  November  24,  1869;  resigned  February  15,  1885, 
to  take  effect  July  12.  Married  to  Ellen  A.  Ellis,  May  25,  1848.  Children  : 
Martha  Ellen,  born  at  South  Hadley,  August  12,  1850;  married  James  O. 
Yatman,  August  23,  1871 ;  Annie,  at  West  Roxbury,  August  23,  1857;  mar- 
ried Lawton  S.  Brooks,  M.  D.,  May  22,  1878, 


church  roll,  but  by  faithfuhiess  to  Christ  in  the  circumstances 
in  which  he  appoints  our  service. 

Though  this  church  is  small,  it  never  held  back  from  the 
formation  of  new  churches  in  the  vicinity.  February  15,  1853, 
it  dismissed  three  members  to  the  council  that  formed  what  is 
now  the  Central  Church,  Jamaica  Plain,  and  five  more  to  its 
first  communion,  and  May  18,  1864,  though  not  satisfied  that 
the  time  had  come  for  the  formation  of  a  church  at  Roslindale, 
it  dismissed  six  to  the  council  that  met  there,  leaving  the 
question  of  organization  to  its  Christian  discretion.  It  was 
organized,  but  in  two  years  disappeared  from  the  minutes  of  the 
General  Association  of  Massachusetts. 

It  further  shows  the  difficulties  to  be  contended  with  in  this 
place,  that  though  the  third  pastor,  Rev.  William  S.  Hubbell  — 
ordained  January  30,  1868,  dismissed  January  25,  1872  —  dur- 
ing those  four  years  received  26  into  the  church,  yet  when  he  left 
its  membership  was  only  77,  or  less  by  one  than  when  he  came.' 

The  fourth  pastor,  Rev.  Edward  Strong,  D.  D.,  when  he 
was  installed  on  May  2,  1872,  found  only  74  members  —  three 
less  than  in  January  i — and  after  receiving  in  ten  years  100 
more,  left  137,  July  13,  1S82,  lacking  only  ele\en  of  being 
double  what  he  found  it.^ 


'  Rev.  William  S.  Hubbell,  son  of  Rev.  Stephen  and  Martha  (Stone) 
Hubbell  was  born  at  Wolcottville,  Conn.,  April  19,  1837.  Graduated 
at  Yale  College,  1858,  and  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  1866, 
after  an  interval  of  three  years  spent  in  the  army.  Assistant  to  Rev.  R.  S. 
Storrs,  D.  D.,  of  Braintree,  Mass.,  from  September,  1866,  to  January,  1868. 
Installed  over  the  Franklin  Street  Church,  Somerville,  Mass.,  January  31, 
1872,  and  dismissed  November  22,  1881.  Installed  over  the  North  Presby- 
terian Church,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  December  22,  188 1.  Married  October  9,  1866, 
to  Caroline  Southmayd,  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  daughter  of  Alfred  and  Susan 
C.  (Baker)  Southmayd.  Children:  Mary  Charlotte,  July  24,  1867;  Susan, 
February  19,  1869;  William  Stone,  Novembers,  1S74 ;  and  De  Witt,  June 
2,  1876. 

^  Rev.  Edward  Strong,  D.  D.,  born  Somers,  Conn.,  October  25, 
18 13.  Graduated  at  Yale  College  1838.  Studied  one  year  at  Union, 
and  two  years  at  New  Haven  Theological  Seminaries.  Ordained  pastor  of 
what  is  now  College  Street  Church,  New  Haven,  December  14,  1842 ;  dis- 
missed July  I,  1S62.  Installed  pastor  of  South  Church,  Pittsfield,  Mass., 
December  i,  1864;  dismissed  December  i,  1871.  Married  to  Miss  Margaret 
S.  Sherman,  of  New  Haven,  who  died  March  20,  1873,  ^^^  ^°  M''=''  Harriet 


14 

And  3'et  so  constant  are  the  removals  that  of  the  137  left 
by  Dr.  Strong,  your  present  pastor,  installed  November  21, 
1882,  found  only  134,  and  these  were  reduced  to  131  before  the 
end  of  the  year.' 

Surely,  then,  we  should  do  with  our  might  whatsoever  our 
hands  find  to  do  for  the  salvation  of  men,  and  let  us  look  care- 
fully on  all  sides  ere  we  conclude  that  our  labors  are  in  vain  in 
the  Lord. 

The  review  of  these  fifty  years  ought  to  inspire  us  with  new 
courage  in  our  service  for  Christ,  since  we  see  a  constant  ad- 
vance from  the  first  day  of  small  things  and  great  opposition,  to 
the  bright  prospects  now  before  us. 

The  Lord  blessed  this  church  at  the  outset,  that  in  the  long^ 
struggle  before  it,  it  might  never  be  discouraged.  Twenty 
years  later,  in  1855,  he  gave  an  increase  of  21,  that  we  might 
know  he  had  not  forsaken  us.  Twenty  years  after  that  he 
added  18  more,  14  of  them  new  converts,  and  the  year  follow- 
ing he  added  18  also,  that  we  might  know  he  did  not  weary  of 
doing  us  good,  but  the  largest  blessing  we  ever  received  was 
only  two  years  ago,  when  20  were  received  by  profession  and  10 
by  letter,  though  losses  reduced  the  net  increase  to  22. 

It  seems  as  though  in  such  dealings  with  us,  the  Lord 
Jesus  allured  us  to  prove  the  extent  of  his  power  to  bless,  and 
to  expect  yet  greater  things  in  years  to  come.  If  all  through 
the  past  he  has  dealt  out  larger  and  still  larger  blessing,  what 
may  we  not  look  for  in  the  future  from  one  able  to  do  exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think  ?  His  power  was  not 
once  mighty  but  now  exhausted,  but  the  power  that  now  worketh 
in  us  is  able  to  do  even  greater  things  than  these.  His  prom- 
ise is  "One  shall  become  a  thousand,  and  a  small  one  a  strong 
nation,"  and,  lest  we  hesitate  he  adds,  "  I,  the  Lord  will  hasten 


S.  Wright  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  September  10,  1874.     Children  by  the  first 
wife,  Harriet  Deming,  Edward  Sherman,  William  Thaddeus. 

■  Rev.  Clarence  Augustine  Beckwith  was  born  in  Charlemont,  Mass., 
July  21,  1849.  Graduated  at  Olivet  College,  Mich.,  1874.  Studied  at 
New  Haven  Theological  Seminary,  1875  and  1876,  and  at  Bangor  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  1877.  Ordained  pastor  of  First  Church,  Brewer,  Me., 
January  9,  1878;  dismissed  September  i,  1882.  Married  to  Miss  V.  Eugenie 
Loba,  September  25,  1878.     Paul  Loba  born  August  27,  1884. 


15 

it  in  its  time."  If  the  church  is  his  body,  in  which  he  li\"es,  and 
through  whicli  he  works  and  reveals  his  power,  remember  that 
it  is  power  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  and  pray  that  you  may 
know  what  is  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  to  usward 
who  beHeve  according  to  the  working  of  the  strength  of  his 
might,  which  he  wrought  in  Christ  when  he  raised  him  from  the 
dead,  and  made  him  to  sit  at  his  right  hand  in  the  heavenly 
places,  far  above  all  rule,  and  authority,  and  power,  and  domin- 
ion, and  every  name  that  is  named  not  only  in  this  world,  but 
also  in  that  which  is  to  come. 

Is  not  such  power  sufficient  for  all  our  wants  ?  Enough  to 
meet  every  emergency  whether  in  our  own  lives,  or  in  that  of  the 
church  which  he  has  purchased  with  his  own  blood  .'' 


-^Jur- 


